ABSTRACT: Focussing on the intrinsic amalgamation or interpenetration between the processes of mediatisation, enunciation and décalage [semiotic ‘out-of-phase-ness’ or ‘out-of-joint-ness’], this paper argues that Eliseo Verón’s concept of mediatisation attempts to account for a process of veritable rupture in the ontological as well as the epistemological status of modern societies’ structuration. Its principal aim is to trace what is considered to be one of the major historico-theoretical theses that traverses Verón’s oeuvre, by means of exploring two genealogical lines of analysis: (a) on the one hand, mediatisation as the condition of possibility for the emergence of a ternary way of thinking about language and meaning (i.e. the so-called ‘triadic models’ of the sign), and (b) conversely, the concept of décalage [semiotic gap or constitutive interval in meaning-making processes] between production and recognition/reception –the constitutive kernel of meaning– is examined as the argumentative surface of emergence of Verón’s concept of ‘mediatisation’. From a chronological viewpoint, however, the concept of décalage antedates, in the course of his work, that of mediatisation: the latter was, in effect, not elaborated as such until the 1980s and 1990s, whereas the former had been formulated, and further developed in the historical process of his thought, since at least the mid-1970s. The article argues that: (a) the concept of mediatisation could only emerge from another concept (i.e. décalage) that was not only interdependent, but which also preceded it both logically and genealogically; and (b) Verón’s conception of language and meaning is also inseparable from that of mediatisation.
RESUMEN: Concentrándose en la interpenetración o amalgamamiento intrínseco entre mediatización, desfasaje constitutivo del sentido y enunciación, este artículo argumenta que el concepto de mediatización en Verón intenta dar cuenta de un proceso de verdadera cesura en el estatuto tanto ontológico como epistemológico de estructuración de las sociedades modernas. El objetivo es rastrear la gran hipótesis teórico-histórica que recorre la obra de Verón, a partir de dos líneas genealógicas: (a) por un lado, la mediatización como condición de posibilidad de la emergencia de un pensamiento ternario sobre el lenguaje y el sentido, y (b) a la inversa, el concepto de décalage [desfasaje/ desencastre/desfase] entre producción y reconocimiento –núcleo constitutivo del sentido– opera como la superficie argumentativa de emergencia del concepto veroniano de mediatización. Desde el punto de vista cronológico, sin embargo, el concepto de décalage precede, en su obra, al de mediatización en tanto que este último fue formalmente elaborado como tal recién en los años 80 y 90, mientras que el primero ya estaba siendo formulado en su pensamiento desde por lo menos mediados de los años 70. El trabajo argumenta que: (a) el concepto de mediatización sólo pudo emerger a partir de un concepto no sólo solidario, sino lógica y genealógicamente anterior, décalage; (b) la noción de sentido y lenguaje en Verón es también indisociable de aquella de mediatización.

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